November 6, 2008
By: Gary Kramer
gkramer@aroundphilly.com
Role Models is a goofy comedy about two colleagues who must mentor teens when they are offered community service over jail. Bitter, hate-filled Danny (Paul Rudd, who co-wrote the film) is asked to care for a fantasy-loving teen (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) while Wheeler (Seann William Scott) gets saddled with a foul-mouthed 10-year-old (Bobb’e J. Thompson). Scott sat down with Aroundphilly.comto talk about being a goofball, getting naked on the set and who are his role models.
AP: Why do you take all these goofball roles?
SWS: I don’t really get offered other things. The last [few] years, I’ve tried to do smaller films. I did a movie called Trainwreck, a little independent film, based on a true story. It was a solid movie, but we are having distribution problems. And I did The Promotion.
AP: Do you want to continue working in comedy? Or do more indie films, like Southland Tales?
SWS: The career I’ve had has been interesting. I try to do interesting films. It was a real calculated decision for me to be in a film that is [financially successful]. Catering to the [goofball] character that has allowed me to have a career. I have no real comedy background, that’s why I like doing these films. I’d prefer to do [serious films], but I do love to make people laugh.
AP: Much of the humor in your films involves uncomfortable things like getting your prostate fondled in Road Trip. You also act like a bully to get a laugh in American Pie films. These same qualities are shared in Role Models, where Wheeler is a troublemaker, an instigator. Why do you do such freaky things?
SWS: Those scenes are really scary. If it’s not done right, it’s really scary. You have to take a risk, and I like that. I don’t really know what I’m doing when it comes to comedy. I just do what I think is funny, and I have a very weird sense of humor. The prostate scene in Road Trip—you have to go for it. And that process of going for it is a really interesting one because the whole time you are crapping your pants, thinking, if this doesn’t work… It is the fear that drives me. I don’t think anyone can be funny if they think they are funny.
AP: You often come off cocky and self-confident in your parts. What appeals to you about this kind of personality?
SWS: I’ve been lucky to have parts, like in American Pie. What is great about those characters is that the guy was given the freedom to say the things that were crazy or inappropriate, and then get his ass handed to him. It made the character more lovable and charming. I risked being typecast in American Pie 3, but that character allowed me to do more physical comedy, to show a bit more range. There are parts of this character in Role Models that are a little closer to me—saying strange things to get a rise out of someone—but I’m not cocky, or overconfident.
AP: Where did you get your warped sense of humor?
SWS: I think I got the strange sense of humor from my brother, who started The Onion newspaper. It was his friend’s idea, and he came on as a writer. I think weird is funny.
AP: Did you like dressing up as a Minotaur in Role Models?
SWS: [Laughs.] I felt like Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. I had to literally stuff my penis behind my legs, because otherwise, it would have been the most uncomfortable thing for everyone on set. The Minotaur outfit was brutal. The worst part was if I had to go pee.
AP: What about undressing? Role Models features your first on-screen nude scene…
SWS: I didn’t want to! I was pressured into it. I thought, Can I get an ass double for this? But what if the guy doesn’t have a cool-looking ass? And the whole weird thing was, I have to do this. It’s not going to be a funny scene—if it works, it will be funny. And it was the first time I ever looked at my ass. The day before, I was like, I better see what this looks like. I [checked myself out] in the mirror, and I was like, “Oh, no. No, No No!” There’s no shape! And it’s going to be on film forever!…I’d just walked out in front of the crew [wearing] a little penis sock and said, “Guys, get used to it! You’re going to see me like this all day!” It was terrible.
AP: What accounts for your rapport in the film with Paul Rudd and Bobb’e J. Thompson who play your foils?
SWS: Paul’s great. He’s a really bright guy. We had a great time, but Bobb’e and I actually spent more time together. What was nice is that he allows me to be wilder in scenes where I’m not with him, because he’ll bring me back down. I can’t “out-crazy” him. It just would be really weird. Bobb’e is extraordinary. He was a like a little Eddie Murphy, when he was in Delirious.
AP: Who are your role models, and who are you a role model to?
SWS: I’m definitely not a role model to anybody! But I have four brothers, and my dad. They were all my role models. It’s not like I had a family that beat me up all the time. They were always really good to me.
Role Models open Fri., Nov. 7. Click here to read Gary Kramer's review.
